Live From New York's All Right if You Like Saxophones
July 13, 2012 11:44 PM Subscribe
Thanks to lobbying from John Belushi, on Halloween night, 1981, LA punk band Fear played a set on Saturday Night Live. The New York Post headline the next day read "FEAR Riot Leaves Saturday Night Glad To Be Alive.”
Bonus videos:
The relatively peaceful first song of the night, "I Don't Care About You."
A swear-happy John Joseph of the Cro-Mags talks about being there.
Bonus videos:
The relatively peaceful first song of the night, "I Don't Care About You."
A swear-happy John Joseph of the Cro-Mags talks about being there.
Stuff of legend can never live up to the reality. Nice to see it though.
posted by o0o0o at 11:57 PM on July 13, 2012
posted by o0o0o at 11:57 PM on July 13, 2012
New York's alright...
posted by eyeballkid at 12:00 AM on July 14, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by eyeballkid at 12:00 AM on July 14, 2012 [7 favorites]
I Love Living in the City from The Decline of Western Civilization
Not Suitable for anything really.
posted by philip-random at 12:03 AM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
Not Suitable for anything really.
posted by philip-random at 12:03 AM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
I started cracking up at the very end when the camera started fading out and the applause began. I thought they had cut it off sooner than that. That's some raw ass punk right there.
posted by Xoebe at 12:08 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by Xoebe at 12:08 AM on July 14, 2012
I saw this in repeats on Comedy Central as a teenager. I grew up hearing a lot of punk (my dad gave me "never mind the bollocks" for valentines day when I was 10), I remember seeing this and thinking "who the hell put these guys on Saturday Night Live?"
I still think "New York's alright, if you like saxophones" at least once a week.
posted by lkc at 12:37 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
I still think "New York's alright, if you like saxophones" at least once a week.
posted by lkc at 12:37 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Anyone have a clue which page of the Billboard Magazine he points to has the story on it?
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:02 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:02 AM on July 14, 2012
Oh Fear. One of the first punk bands I ever heard, and one of the best albums ever made, in my opinion. And then the immediate slide into total reprehensibility.
Of course it's a pity that the SNL appearance didn't happen during the 6 months that Flea was the bassist.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:40 AM on July 14, 2012
Of course it's a pity that the SNL appearance didn't happen during the 6 months that Flea was the bassist.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:40 AM on July 14, 2012
"Anyone have a clue which page of the Billboard Magazine he points to has the story on it?"
15. It's the previewed page that link goes to.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:00 AM on July 14, 2012
15. It's the previewed page that link goes to.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:00 AM on July 14, 2012
I remember seeing Lee Ving on an episode of Fame with some DJ chick from MTV.
I was all WTF?
posted by Max Power at 6:05 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
I was all WTF?
posted by Max Power at 6:05 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Lee Ving was also Mr. Boddy in Clue, and I think also, he was in Flashdance!
I never let myself get into Fear, because as a teenager, in the inverse of this punk rock legend, he went insane on KROQ, said what I believe were a bunch of homophobic and racist things, and was banned from the air. They never played Fear again and wouldn't even mention his name.
I didn't hear the interview, but everybody always talked to it if you brought Fear up. If you liked them you were considered either kind of lame (for not knowing) or possibly insane and racist yourself.
I have no idea what he actually said though, and my googling has proved insufficient.
posted by pazazygeek at 6:12 AM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
I never let myself get into Fear, because as a teenager, in the inverse of this punk rock legend, he went insane on KROQ, said what I believe were a bunch of homophobic and racist things, and was banned from the air. They never played Fear again and wouldn't even mention his name.
I didn't hear the interview, but everybody always talked to it if you brought Fear up. If you liked them you were considered either kind of lame (for not knowing) or possibly insane and racist yourself.
I have no idea what he actually said though, and my googling has proved insufficient.
posted by pazazygeek at 6:12 AM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
I loved FEAR back in the day, so thanks for this. Also, listening to John Joseph of the Cro-Mags makes me intensely fuckin' nostalgic for NYC.
posted by languagehat at 6:15 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by languagehat at 6:15 AM on July 14, 2012
Lee Ving actually has enough of a reputation for being a righ-wing, racist, homophobic douche that a lot of people simply won't work with him anymore.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:36 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:36 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Gotta say it: that looked totally staged and non-spontaneous to this old punk.
posted by Decani at 6:47 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Decani at 6:47 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
John Joseph, smerging into crowds since Halloween 1981.
posted by vozworth at 7:03 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by vozworth at 7:03 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
^ If you liked [FEAR] you were considered either kind of lame (for not knowing) or possibly insane and racist yourself.
I've always been impressed at how progressive and anti-violence the American Punkscene became. Then again, I'm from DC. I suspect that the HarDCore scene may end up being a MASSIVE footnote to the 20th c. -- like Berlin in the '30s and Paris in the '20s, it was DC in the '80s. But here, TPTB weren't really paying attention, because they weren't getting paid. Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins went D.I.Y. in the late '70s.
New York, L.A., Berlin and London have greater Punk Rock notoriety, but Black Flag and Dischord Records started here.
(Are there any Museum Culturati here on the Blue? An alt.culture.dc.1980 traveling exhibition would be an easy way to make a name for yourself.)
posted by vhsiv at 7:08 AM on July 14, 2012
I've always been impressed at how progressive and anti-violence the American Punkscene became. Then again, I'm from DC. I suspect that the HarDCore scene may end up being a MASSIVE footnote to the 20th c. -- like Berlin in the '30s and Paris in the '20s, it was DC in the '80s. But here, TPTB weren't really paying attention, because they weren't getting paid. Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins went D.I.Y. in the late '70s.
New York, L.A., Berlin and London have greater Punk Rock notoriety, but Black Flag and Dischord Records started here.
(Are there any Museum Culturati here on the Blue? An alt.culture.dc.1980 traveling exhibition would be an easy way to make a name for yourself.)
posted by vhsiv at 7:08 AM on July 14, 2012
Anybody notice that the blogger who posted this is Jake Fogelnest of Squirt TV fame?
posted by jonp72 at 7:10 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by jonp72 at 7:10 AM on July 14, 2012
When you look back at the history of SNL, there were really very few moments where they took advantage of being broadcast live. Aside from Elvis Costello pulling the old Hendrix stunt of stopping in the middle of a song and playing a completely different tune, there wasn't ever much spontaneity in the live performances.
Even at the time, I thought it was funny that this no-talent band was the closest they ever came to booking punk rockers on the show. CBGB's was just down the street, but they went out of their way to book a bunch of Belushi's drinking buddies.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 7:11 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Even at the time, I thought it was funny that this no-talent band was the closest they ever came to booking punk rockers on the show. CBGB's was just down the street, but they went out of their way to book a bunch of Belushi's drinking buddies.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 7:11 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
So is this where we talk about the recent stabbing at the Cro-Mags show?
posted by cazoo at 7:30 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by cazoo at 7:30 AM on July 14, 2012
New York, L.A., Berlin and London have greater Punk Rock notoriety, but Black Flag and Dischord Records started here.
Uh, no, Black Flag are from Hermosa Beach. Are you thinking of Minor Threat?
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:32 AM on July 14, 2012 [5 favorites]
Uh, no, Black Flag are from Hermosa Beach. Are you thinking of Minor Threat?
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:32 AM on July 14, 2012 [5 favorites]
Heh. Jake Fogelnest is also a DJ for "First Wave" on sirius/xm.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:36 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by Navelgazer at 7:36 AM on July 14, 2012
Somebody gave me a cassette with "I Don't Care About You" on it when i was 13 or so. I had previously had no idea that such a thing existed or could exist. Sorry to hear that Ving turned out to be a bad guy but I will cherish this song always.
posted by escabeche at 7:52 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by escabeche at 7:52 AM on July 14, 2012
Wait - Fear is a "no-talent band"? I must protest. I don't care if you like them or not, they are hardly "no-talent."
And pazazygeek, I think this may have been on Loveline. I definitely remember hearing him on there (this may have even been '91?) and being bummed about his schtick.
posted by queensissy at 7:54 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
And pazazygeek, I think this may have been on Loveline. I definitely remember hearing him on there (this may have even been '91?) and being bummed about his schtick.
posted by queensissy at 7:54 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
I haven't listened to the interview, but could it have been this?
posted by limeonaire at 8:34 AM on July 14, 2012
posted by limeonaire at 8:34 AM on July 14, 2012
Uh, no, Black Flag are from Hermosa Beach. Are you thinking of Minor Threat?
I think he's just confused about how Henry got hooked up with the Flag. Henry is from DC, correct; but Black Flag was an ongoing concern. Henry was offerred the gig, and moved to California thereafter.
posted by mwhybark at 8:37 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
I think he's just confused about how Henry got hooked up with the Flag. Henry is from DC, correct; but Black Flag was an ongoing concern. Henry was offerred the gig, and moved to California thereafter.
posted by mwhybark at 8:37 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
CBGB's was just down the street, but they went out of their way to book a bunch of Belushi's drinking buddies.
Well, no, CBGB's wasn't "just down the street" from the NBC studios in either the literal or figurative sense. And it's important to remember who was running SNL at the time (Dick Ebersol, about as non-punk-rock as anyone ever associated with the franchise) and how desperate he was to regain the ground lost during Jean Doumanian's disastrous tenure as executive producer. Even if you think that Fear was a crap band, they got attention for a show that had gotten "Saturday Night Dead" reviews from just about everyone.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:49 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
Well, no, CBGB's wasn't "just down the street" from the NBC studios in either the literal or figurative sense. And it's important to remember who was running SNL at the time (Dick Ebersol, about as non-punk-rock as anyone ever associated with the franchise) and how desperate he was to regain the ground lost during Jean Doumanian's disastrous tenure as executive producer. Even if you think that Fear was a crap band, they got attention for a show that had gotten "Saturday Night Dead" reviews from just about everyone.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:49 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
I didn't hear the interview, but everybody always talked to it if you brought Fear up. If you liked them you were considered either kind of lame (for not knowing) or possibly insane and racist yourself.
I first became aware of Fear via their part in the Decline of Western Civilization. I'm sure my first impression was, damn they're ugly (sounding, looking, inside and outside) but you couldn't argue the fact that they MADE an impression. Which, I guess, is one of the harder things to get about punk -- 3.5 decades after the fact. It existed to first and foremost MAKE AN IMPRESSION, with concerns as to what kind of impression far less important. Welcome to the Zeitgeist -- 1977-79 (or thereabouts). The culture was generally lame and toxic and needed a shitkicking.
So no, I didn't like Fear, but I wasn't supposed to. When I think of three people I knew who did like them back in the day:
1. he was just wild guy in general and so loved them for their sheer hilarity, in particular, how they offended decent, normal-thinking types. He eventually grew out of them.
2. he came from a fairly uptight, restrictive background, so Fear was almost political for him. Though he was not particularly racist, homophobic, sexist etc, he did relate to the rage big time. He also eventually grew out of them.
3. he was dangerous. he agreed with them, sort of Travis Bickle like. and he was big, a bully, and apparently had serious issues with women, other races, homosexuals. he was an asshole and I have no idea what happened to him, because nobody I know has had any dealings with him since about 1981. He's probably a banker by now.
posted by philip-random at 9:54 AM on July 14, 2012 [7 favorites]
I first became aware of Fear via their part in the Decline of Western Civilization. I'm sure my first impression was, damn they're ugly (sounding, looking, inside and outside) but you couldn't argue the fact that they MADE an impression. Which, I guess, is one of the harder things to get about punk -- 3.5 decades after the fact. It existed to first and foremost MAKE AN IMPRESSION, with concerns as to what kind of impression far less important. Welcome to the Zeitgeist -- 1977-79 (or thereabouts). The culture was generally lame and toxic and needed a shitkicking.
So no, I didn't like Fear, but I wasn't supposed to. When I think of three people I knew who did like them back in the day:
1. he was just wild guy in general and so loved them for their sheer hilarity, in particular, how they offended decent, normal-thinking types. He eventually grew out of them.
2. he came from a fairly uptight, restrictive background, so Fear was almost political for him. Though he was not particularly racist, homophobic, sexist etc, he did relate to the rage big time. He also eventually grew out of them.
3. he was dangerous. he agreed with them, sort of Travis Bickle like. and he was big, a bully, and apparently had serious issues with women, other races, homosexuals. he was an asshole and I have no idea what happened to him, because nobody I know has had any dealings with him since about 1981. He's probably a banker by now.
posted by philip-random at 9:54 AM on July 14, 2012 [7 favorites]
The punk I like never descended into hooliganism. I recall there being a massive break in the late 70s, when all these bullies showed up and thought punk was just an excuse to break shit and smash up other people. And they insisted there was no such thng as new wave, and then insisted on calling the punk I liked new wave, so I guess it did exist if you really weren't really into seeing punk reduced to a bunch of really angry white men who wanted to destroy stuff -- at least as far as the audience was concerned.
Elvis Costello breaking into Radio Radio on SNL was exciting. This is the musical equivalent of a soccer riot.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:03 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
Elvis Costello breaking into Radio Radio on SNL was exciting. This is the musical equivalent of a soccer riot.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:03 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
I remember seeing this ... at the time, it struck me as completely crazy chaos and one of the times I was shaking my head and saying, "This show is definitely getting yanked off the air for sure."
This episode grew into some sort of minor legend in the punk scene in the Northwest; who saw it and who didn't, just how crazy was it, who was responsible, those sorts of things.
I saw Fear a few years later (with Code of Honor opening up along with a whole slew of local bands), and it was a really fun show. Lee Ving stopped it on a couple occasions because he was worried about people in the crowd.
Once when someone fell and didn't get up right away (a rarity) he stopped things and said in that hoarse voice of his, "Hey! Hey! Help him up you assholes! Jesus fuck, we got to take care of one another y'know!"
And the second time was when a frat boy thought that slamming meant getting in fist fights and kept swinging at people. Again Lee Ving brought things to a halt and said, "You! Yeah you asshole! You better mellow the fuck out. I mean it! You calm down or somebody take this fucker right out of the building!"
At the time they were sort of known in the mainstream, and like shows by the Dead Kennedys or Black Flag would always attract groups of jocks or frat boys who wanted to "kick some punks ass". Which always turned into a huge mistake for the jocks or frat boys.
But anyways ... fun show.
Oh, and Lee Ving did a great job in Streets of Fire.
posted by Relay at 10:17 AM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
This episode grew into some sort of minor legend in the punk scene in the Northwest; who saw it and who didn't, just how crazy was it, who was responsible, those sorts of things.
I saw Fear a few years later (with Code of Honor opening up along with a whole slew of local bands), and it was a really fun show. Lee Ving stopped it on a couple occasions because he was worried about people in the crowd.
Once when someone fell and didn't get up right away (a rarity) he stopped things and said in that hoarse voice of his, "Hey! Hey! Help him up you assholes! Jesus fuck, we got to take care of one another y'know!"
And the second time was when a frat boy thought that slamming meant getting in fist fights and kept swinging at people. Again Lee Ving brought things to a halt and said, "You! Yeah you asshole! You better mellow the fuck out. I mean it! You calm down or somebody take this fucker right out of the building!"
At the time they were sort of known in the mainstream, and like shows by the Dead Kennedys or Black Flag would always attract groups of jocks or frat boys who wanted to "kick some punks ass". Which always turned into a huge mistake for the jocks or frat boys.
But anyways ... fun show.
Oh, and Lee Ving did a great job in Streets of Fire.
posted by Relay at 10:17 AM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
I first became aware of Fear via their part in the Decline of Western Civilization. I'm sure my first impression was, damn they're ugly (sounding, looking, inside and outside) but you couldn't argue the fact that they MADE an impression.
Indeed. I saw them at a sort of has-beens punk show at the Olympic Amphitheater in the mid-2000s (also on the bill: Flipper, Suicidal Tendencies), and Fear blew everyone else off the stage. I had heard of them but had never actually heard them before that.
Of course, there was a riot/fight/police crackdown after the show.
posted by LionIndex at 10:28 AM on July 14, 2012
Indeed. I saw them at a sort of has-beens punk show at the Olympic Amphitheater in the mid-2000s (also on the bill: Flipper, Suicidal Tendencies), and Fear blew everyone else off the stage. I had heard of them but had never actually heard them before that.
Of course, there was a riot/fight/police crackdown after the show.
posted by LionIndex at 10:28 AM on July 14, 2012
I've never been able to get into Fear, despite seeing them a couple times. Funny though, I was thinking about them on TV just yesterday when I found out an equally odd television appearance was coming up - Refused is playing on Jimmy Fallon's show on July 18. Never though that would happen...
posted by blaneyphoto at 10:29 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by blaneyphoto at 10:29 AM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
The first time I heard Fear, I very much disliked them, and told my friend who was playing it that I didn't want to hear any more. Let's have a war so YOU can go die! WTF?
Revealing that Belushi slurped it up.
posted by telstar at 11:00 AM on July 14, 2012
Revealing that Belushi slurped it up.
posted by telstar at 11:00 AM on July 14, 2012
1984, Goshen, Indiana. I'm a sophomore in high school up at 2 in the morning working on a history of comic books for my final project in journalism. I had the radio tuned to the Goshen College radio station to listen to a jazz show because I was a very serious sophomore and jazz was Western music's acme, but the radio had gone quiet a few hours ago and was just sitting there hissing in the background.
Suddenly the hissing stops and a guy's voice says "you're listening to Guts Radio," and then he peeled my skull back with "New York's Alright," and then a further hour of more like it. I found The Kid Who Knew About That Stuff at school, and he hooked me up with the Dead Boys' "Young Loud and Snotty" a few days later, and that pretty much cemented my schizophrenic listening habits for the next long while: any jazz, the Doors and anything that reminded me of what might have been the one and only hour of Goshen College's own Guts Radio ever.
posted by mph at 11:15 AM on July 14, 2012 [5 favorites]
Suddenly the hissing stops and a guy's voice says "you're listening to Guts Radio," and then he peeled my skull back with "New York's Alright," and then a further hour of more like it. I found The Kid Who Knew About That Stuff at school, and he hooked me up with the Dead Boys' "Young Loud and Snotty" a few days later, and that pretty much cemented my schizophrenic listening habits for the next long while: any jazz, the Doors and anything that reminded me of what might have been the one and only hour of Goshen College's own Guts Radio ever.
posted by mph at 11:15 AM on July 14, 2012 [5 favorites]
Fear, Dead Kennedys, DRI, and The Meatmen were my introduction to punk rock. Growing up in the Bay Area punk scene, and being very involved in Gilman, bands like Fear and The Meatmen were the ones I wasn't "supposed" to like. I've never met Lee Ving, but after meeting Tesco Vee I felt a lot better about defending them. The Meatmen played in Oakland a couple years ago. It was awesome seeing how many old Gilman people were there, and seeing how many of them were still fun, stand up people who had eventually been pushed out of the Gilman collective (like myself) for saying there can be fun and sarcasm in punk rock and it doesn't all need to be taken so seriously.
These clips from SNL, along with "The Day My Kid Went Punk" and various "very special" punk rock episodes of family tv shows used to get passed around on 11th or 12th generation VHS mixtapes when I was in high school. I'm surprised its taken this long for the clips to get online. But it makes me happy.
posted by gally99 at 11:25 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
These clips from SNL, along with "The Day My Kid Went Punk" and various "very special" punk rock episodes of family tv shows used to get passed around on 11th or 12th generation VHS mixtapes when I was in high school. I'm surprised its taken this long for the clips to get online. But it makes me happy.
posted by gally99 at 11:25 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
This the best chance I'm going to get to mention the Shitbirds' cover of "Beef Bologna." Go, April, go.
posted by mintcake! at 11:34 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by mintcake! at 11:34 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
I have a huge capacity for saccharine in my music (I'm developing an strong affection for Rebecca Black's "Friday"), but "Let's Have a War" is my favorite song for blowing everything out of my brain.
"Let's have a war ..... so YOU can GO and DIE". I appreciate the honesty.
posted by benito.strauss at 11:42 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
"Let's have a war ..... so YOU can GO and DIE". I appreciate the honesty.
posted by benito.strauss at 11:42 AM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Well, no, CBGB's wasn't "just down the street" from the NBC studios in either the literal or figurative sense.
Dude. It was like three miles away.
Even if you think that Fear was a crap band, they got attention for a show that had gotten "Saturday Night Dead" reviews from just about everyone.
Fear was fun, but that doesn't change the fact it was a crap band. People have already named several bands extant at the time, any of whom would have been more exciting to see on live national TV than that bunch of schmoes.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 12:08 PM on July 14, 2012
Dude. It was like three miles away.
Even if you think that Fear was a crap band, they got attention for a show that had gotten "Saturday Night Dead" reviews from just about everyone.
Fear was fun, but that doesn't change the fact it was a crap band. People have already named several bands extant at the time, any of whom would have been more exciting to see on live national TV than that bunch of schmoes.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 12:08 PM on July 14, 2012
"So no, I didn't like Fear, but I wasn't supposed to."
I had the opposite experience.
I'm a female who preferred bands like The Ramones and Stiff Little Fingers and my friends and I all liked Fear (to varying degrees, of course.) To be honest, we were mostly full of first-world anger, so maybe we just took them at face value. All I know is I just downloaded I Don't Care About You to add to my "Songs that are fun to sing at the top of your lungs in the car" playlist.
The band I wasn't supposed to like (and didn't) was The Mentors. (Not linked because basically if all the things MetaFilter doesn't do well needed a house band it would be these guys.)
posted by Room 641-A at 12:25 PM on July 14, 2012 [6 favorites]
I had the opposite experience.
I'm a female who preferred bands like The Ramones and Stiff Little Fingers and my friends and I all liked Fear (to varying degrees, of course.) To be honest, we were mostly full of first-world anger, so maybe we just took them at face value. All I know is I just downloaded I Don't Care About You to add to my "Songs that are fun to sing at the top of your lungs in the car" playlist.
The band I wasn't supposed to like (and didn't) was The Mentors. (Not linked because basically if all the things MetaFilter doesn't do well needed a house band it would be these guys.)
posted by Room 641-A at 12:25 PM on July 14, 2012 [6 favorites]
All I know is I just downloaded I Don't Care About You to add to my "Songs that are fun to sing at the top of your lungs in the car" playlist.
Me yelling along with this song while driving down Hollywood Blvd was pretty much the inspiration for this post.
posted by Bookhouse at 12:31 PM on July 14, 2012 [4 favorites]
Me yelling along with this song while driving down Hollywood Blvd was pretty much the inspiration for this post.
posted by Bookhouse at 12:31 PM on July 14, 2012 [4 favorites]
The band I wasn't supposed to like (and didn't) was The Mentors. (Not linked because basically if all the things MetaFilter doesn't do well needed a house band it would be these guys.)
That band got the best punk venue in my city's history, a bar called Wellingtons, shut down. One extra incentive to show them no respect.
posted by jeffen at 12:45 PM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
That band got the best punk venue in my city's history, a bar called Wellingtons, shut down. One extra incentive to show them no respect.
posted by jeffen at 12:45 PM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
Me yelling along with this song while driving down Hollywood Blvd was pretty much the inspiration for this post.
Oh, so that was you.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 12:49 PM on July 14, 2012
Oh, so that was you.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 12:49 PM on July 14, 2012
Westernerd that I am, my favorite banned-from-SNL band will always be the Replacements (with guest host Harry Dean Stanton!)
posted by Rangeboy at 12:53 PM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Rangeboy at 12:53 PM on July 14, 2012 [2 favorites]
The band I wasn't supposed to like (and didn't) was The Mentors. (Not linked because basically if all the things MetaFilter doesn't do well needed a house band it would be these guys.)
Some people never figure out the difference between shock tactics toward an end and shock tactics for their own sake. Most people figure that out by about 16 or so.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:29 PM on July 14, 2012
Some people never figure out the difference between shock tactics toward an end and shock tactics for their own sake. Most people figure that out by about 16 or so.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:29 PM on July 14, 2012
Dude. It was like three miles away.
That means a little more in Manhattan than it does in, say, Peoria.
People have already named several bands extant at the time, any of whom would have been more exciting to see on live national TV than that bunch of schmoes.
But who would have had them on?
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:13 PM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
That means a little more in Manhattan than it does in, say, Peoria.
People have already named several bands extant at the time, any of whom would have been more exciting to see on live national TV than that bunch of schmoes.
But who would have had them on?
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:13 PM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
"Some people never figure out the difference between shock tactics toward an end and shock tactics for their own sake. Most people figure that out by about 16 or so."
I was in 10th grade back then, so I was probably exactly 16!
posted by Room 641-A at 2:18 PM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
I was in 10th grade back then, so I was probably exactly 16!
posted by Room 641-A at 2:18 PM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
Here at the ranch a couple of months ago, my 13 yo skate punk kid was all like..."You think you're hardcore? I bet you've never heard of THIS!" He plays My War or something on his laptop...
I stage dive from the sofa, land on my very big dog who bites my arm in retaliation. I'm bleeding and singing along, loudly, in my best Hank voice. I scramble to my feet and skank circles around my dog who's already decided that I'm an idiot and lays her head down on her paws. Still skanking, I thrust a bloody fist in the air and declare..."Punk Rock MotherFucker!!1!"
X, my son, turns down the volume and states very simply that, "Yea, if you'd put some of that blood on your beard it'd be less gray."
posted by snsranch at 4:00 PM on July 14, 2012 [13 favorites]
I stage dive from the sofa, land on my very big dog who bites my arm in retaliation. I'm bleeding and singing along, loudly, in my best Hank voice. I scramble to my feet and skank circles around my dog who's already decided that I'm an idiot and lays her head down on her paws. Still skanking, I thrust a bloody fist in the air and declare..."Punk Rock MotherFucker!!1!"
X, my son, turns down the volume and states very simply that, "Yea, if you'd put some of that blood on your beard it'd be less gray."
posted by snsranch at 4:00 PM on July 14, 2012 [13 favorites]
if all the things MetaFilter doesn't do well needed a house band it would be these guys.
I didn't realize that Metafilter doesn't cross train tracks well. Badum-tish!
posted by "Elbows" O'Donoghue at 4:09 PM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
I didn't realize that Metafilter doesn't cross train tracks well. Badum-tish!
posted by "Elbows" O'Donoghue at 4:09 PM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
On preview, I guess that would be more "things the Mentors don't do well."
posted by "Elbows" O'Donoghue at 4:10 PM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by "Elbows" O'Donoghue at 4:10 PM on July 14, 2012 [1 favorite]
Would this be the offending Fear on Loveline segment?
I remember finally seeing Decline of Western Civ and having two reactions to Fear: First, that they got boring fast, and second, that for all their homophobic bluster, Lee Ving sure did look like a guy in a Tom of Finland comic.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:39 PM on July 14, 2012
I remember finally seeing Decline of Western Civ and having two reactions to Fear: First, that they got boring fast, and second, that for all their homophobic bluster, Lee Ving sure did look like a guy in a Tom of Finland comic.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:39 PM on July 14, 2012
"Still skanking, I thrust a bloody fist in the air and declare...'Punk Rock MotherFucker!!1!'"
With only a few details altered, but including the irritated companion canine, I'm certain that this story has been repeated innumerably throughout human history, all the way back through the paleolithic.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:43 PM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
With only a few details altered, but including the irritated companion canine, I'm certain that this story has been repeated innumerably throughout human history, all the way back through the paleolithic.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:43 PM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
Huh. This is interesting from a historical perspective, but musically they leave me kinda cold. Seems like a missed opportunity for live television. (And did I hear him say "New York's okay if you like homosexuals"? Really?)
But then, to be fair, my taste in punk has always run more toward the wordy and literate stuff made by nice guys with Ph.Ds. I know some true believers would say that's not really punk, but whatever.
posted by jbickers at 5:12 PM on July 14, 2012
But then, to be fair, my taste in punk has always run more toward the wordy and literate stuff made by nice guys with Ph.Ds. I know some true believers would say that's not really punk, but whatever.
posted by jbickers at 5:12 PM on July 14, 2012
Let's have a war so YOU can go die! WTF?
Revealing that Belushi slurped it up.
Oh please. This is nothing AT ALL. The Dead Kennedys have a fine song called Kill the Poor which has been subject to similar misapprehension. Whether or not Ving is a misanthrope is not germane to recognizing the song as analytic satire.
What's that? You do not concur?
I don't care about you.
posted by mwhybark at 5:40 PM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
Revealing that Belushi slurped it up.
Oh please. This is nothing AT ALL. The Dead Kennedys have a fine song called Kill the Poor which has been subject to similar misapprehension. Whether or not Ving is a misanthrope is not germane to recognizing the song as analytic satire.
What's that? You do not concur?
I don't care about you.
posted by mwhybark at 5:40 PM on July 14, 2012 [3 favorites]
The Dead Kennedys have a fine song called Kill the Poor yt which has been subject to similar misapprehension.
Swiftian satire blaming everything that's wrong on the poor, suggesting we nuke them all with neutron bombs (the ones that kill humans but don't harm the real estate) -- hardly on the nose, like a Fear lyric. Mr. Ving really doesn't care about you (or he didn't anyway, thirty-five years ago).
What's that? You do not concur?
I'm right, you're wrong and we both know it.
posted by philip-random at 6:11 PM on July 14, 2012
Swiftian satire blaming everything that's wrong on the poor, suggesting we nuke them all with neutron bombs (the ones that kill humans but don't harm the real estate) -- hardly on the nose, like a Fear lyric. Mr. Ving really doesn't care about you (or he didn't anyway, thirty-five years ago).
What's that? You do not concur?
I'm right, you're wrong and we both know it.
posted by philip-random at 6:11 PM on July 14, 2012
That means a little more in Manhattan than it does in, say, Peoria.
Yeah, it means plenty of better-than-Fear bands were playing within three miles of where SNL is taped. You're the one who made it seem like CBGBs was across the magic pond or something.
But who would have had them on?
My point exactly. If Belushi had had better taste in punk rock drinking buddies, we might have seen a decent band on SNL instead of Fear playing their feeble set in front of a couple dozen rent-a-punks.
Really, is this horse dead yet? Smells like it to me.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 6:41 PM on July 14, 2012
Yeah, it means plenty of better-than-Fear bands were playing within three miles of where SNL is taped. You're the one who made it seem like CBGBs was across the magic pond or something.
But who would have had them on?
My point exactly. If Belushi had had better taste in punk rock drinking buddies, we might have seen a decent band on SNL instead of Fear playing their feeble set in front of a couple dozen rent-a-punks.
Really, is this horse dead yet? Smells like it to me.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 6:41 PM on July 14, 2012
I loved the hell out of this when it aired because it came at a perfect time for me as I got into punk. I was buying my first records and it was all LA and OC hardcore, Dead Kennedys, and DC bands. I was one of those kids who thought X and The Clash weren't really punk, too slow and mainstream. Went to my first gig about 6 weeks later and it was heaven to me, and I was deep into the scene until maybe '86 or so.
It wasn't really all about destruction in the pit, it was more of a contact sport with no points and only loosely understood rules. You could get hurt but that wasn't the intent, it was more about burning off stress.
I'm sympathetic to people Like Bunny Ultramod (and John Doe, who expressed the same sentiment in the We Got The Neutron Bomb book) who feel we messed up their scene by being too violent because I eventually left the punk scene for the same reason. The Suicidal Boys and the Family and the racist skinheads and yes even the anti-racist skinheads made everything suck. Plus I hated moshing when it moved out here from the east coast, if I wanted to run in circles I'd go to the track.
Fear was not a great band, but there are some great songs on their first record. I mean, how can you not love this verse from I Love Living In The City:
Spent my whole life in the city, where junk is king and the air smells shitty
People puking everywhere, piles of blood, scabs and hair
Bodies wasted in defeat, people dying on the street
But the suburban scumbags they don't care
They just get fat and dye their hair
I'm not sure if this means anything one way or the other as far as Lee Ving's predjudices, but the last time I saw Fear in about 95 or 96 he very nearly got into a fight with a bunch of racist skins who decided to chase them off the stage because their bass player was black. There's only so much you can do against a bunch of goons, so they had to stop playing after a couple songs. But he was very vocal in his contempt for the racists.
And yes, Lee Ving was in Flashdance - as the sleazy strip club manager, of course!
posted by InfidelZombie at 7:46 PM on July 14, 2012 [4 favorites]
It wasn't really all about destruction in the pit, it was more of a contact sport with no points and only loosely understood rules. You could get hurt but that wasn't the intent, it was more about burning off stress.
I'm sympathetic to people Like Bunny Ultramod (and John Doe, who expressed the same sentiment in the We Got The Neutron Bomb book) who feel we messed up their scene by being too violent because I eventually left the punk scene for the same reason. The Suicidal Boys and the Family and the racist skinheads and yes even the anti-racist skinheads made everything suck. Plus I hated moshing when it moved out here from the east coast, if I wanted to run in circles I'd go to the track.
Fear was not a great band, but there are some great songs on their first record. I mean, how can you not love this verse from I Love Living In The City:
Spent my whole life in the city, where junk is king and the air smells shitty
People puking everywhere, piles of blood, scabs and hair
Bodies wasted in defeat, people dying on the street
But the suburban scumbags they don't care
They just get fat and dye their hair
I'm not sure if this means anything one way or the other as far as Lee Ving's predjudices, but the last time I saw Fear in about 95 or 96 he very nearly got into a fight with a bunch of racist skins who decided to chase them off the stage because their bass player was black. There's only so much you can do against a bunch of goons, so they had to stop playing after a couple songs. But he was very vocal in his contempt for the racists.
And yes, Lee Ving was in Flashdance - as the sleazy strip club manager, of course!
posted by InfidelZombie at 7:46 PM on July 14, 2012 [4 favorites]
Even at the time, I thought it was funny that this no-talent band was the closest they ever came to booking punk rockers on the show. CBGB's was just down the street, but they went out of their way to book a bunch of Belushi's drinking buddies.
Fritz Langwedge, this is explained quite clearly in the linked article.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:08 AM on July 15, 2012
Fritz Langwedge, this is explained quite clearly in the linked article.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:08 AM on July 15, 2012
The Dead Kennedys have a fine song called Kill the Poor yt which has been subject to similar misapprehension.
I'd love to see Greg Ginn's face in the moment he discovered that "White Minority" had been badly misinterpreted by white supremacists.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:09 PM on July 15, 2012
I'd love to see Greg Ginn's face in the moment he discovered that "White Minority" had been badly misinterpreted by white supremacists.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:09 PM on July 15, 2012
The first time I heard Fear, I very much disliked them, and told my friend who was playing it that I didn't want to hear any more. Let's have a war so YOU can go die! WTF?
Right. 'Cause if there's one device protest art never uses to make it's point, it's irony.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:44 PM on July 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
Right. 'Cause if there's one device protest art never uses to make it's point, it's irony.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:44 PM on July 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
If Lee Ving ever got close to protest art or irony, I assume it was to tell them to shut the fuck up.
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 4:34 PM on July 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Fritz Langwedge at 4:34 PM on July 15, 2012 [1 favorite]
Still not getting the outpouring of MeFi hate here for Lee Ving. Anyone care to fill-in the salient history?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:09 PM on July 15, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:09 PM on July 15, 2012 [2 favorites]
I can't really put my finger on it either, but for whatever reason FEAR seemed to have a kind of violent and sometimes racist following here in San Diego. Which is kind of weird considering that San Diego is and was very fucking multi-cultural even in the punk world.
We never had a big problem with skins, racism or violence for the sake of violence, but I definitely remember people talking shit, warning me, about a few guys who were regulars in the scene because they were racist shit-starting assholes who happened to be big FEAR fans. They were just wanna-be tough guys with shit to prove.
Speaking about the scene in general, the funny thing is that going to a show was typically a much more safe endeavor than hanging out in various neighborhoods. I don't really know why because I can only remember maybe 2 gangs that were in operation between say '78 and '85. Not huge players, but damn, there was a lot of stabbing and getting cut up back then.
Of about 20 really good shows that I've been to only two things stand out as being fucked up. One was at a Chilli Peppers/Fishbone/ReddKross(sp) show when some guy got his long ass ear ring stuck on my shoulder some how. It got ripped out of his ear and he bled all over me.
The other was just watching punker girls vomiting just outside of a VFW hall because they had slightly over dosed on paraquat pot and Sheaffer Black Label.
posted by snsranch at 8:28 PM on July 15, 2012 [3 favorites]
We never had a big problem with skins, racism or violence for the sake of violence, but I definitely remember people talking shit, warning me, about a few guys who were regulars in the scene because they were racist shit-starting assholes who happened to be big FEAR fans. They were just wanna-be tough guys with shit to prove.
Speaking about the scene in general, the funny thing is that going to a show was typically a much more safe endeavor than hanging out in various neighborhoods. I don't really know why because I can only remember maybe 2 gangs that were in operation between say '78 and '85. Not huge players, but damn, there was a lot of stabbing and getting cut up back then.
Of about 20 really good shows that I've been to only two things stand out as being fucked up. One was at a Chilli Peppers/Fishbone/ReddKross(sp) show when some guy got his long ass ear ring stuck on my shoulder some how. It got ripped out of his ear and he bled all over me.
The other was just watching punker girls vomiting just outside of a VFW hall because they had slightly over dosed on paraquat pot and Sheaffer Black Label.
posted by snsranch at 8:28 PM on July 15, 2012 [3 favorites]
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